Check your engines, errr Onions

Notice how the thumb is mushing INTO
 the onion bulb. It should be firm
and hard, not mushy.

Unfortunately for us, all the rain that we continued to get at the end of 2013 has contributed to another problem in the garden. It isn't obvious because it looks like the onions are doing good. Healthy green bits are above the ground.

But...below the ground, the bulb is in a sorry state. In fact, the onions are demonstrating what happens if you over water them.

I know John and Denise both checked and found they had mushy onions. The best thing to do is to dig an onion up (or down to the onion bulb) and test to see if it is mushy.


The onion on the left  is still full, plump and firm.
The onion on the right is the one that is mushy.

If it is mushy you have two choices. Dig it up and then remove the mushy bits and use it as you would a green onion. Or, leave it to grow and see what happens.

If you let it continue growing, it may bulb but it won't have good keeping qualities. You would need to eat them right away when you harvest them. (Just remove and toss any mushy bits. The remaining part is fine to use..)

At this point, why not just remove them and have space for more plants this spring.  Or you can replant onions and get another change of growing a nice sized onion. Maybe this is the last of the nasty side effects of too much rain in 2013!

The onion sets in the shed have been removed as they too were past their prime for planting.  Denise is going to put some fresh ones in the shed early next week if you are thinking about planting onions this spring.  Spring planted onions will do very well however the bulbs will be somewhat smaller compared to those planted in the fall. Small size but still great tasting!! Mmmmmm....

                     Vicki